The Unisex Diner

The Summer starts here people, with my foray in to providing a feel good upbeat summer tune for 2009. Classic laconic Americana everyday life meets uptempo feel good vibes, courtesy of the UK's 'The Rumble Strips' (their tune incidentally featuring in the surprisingly good and highly recommended teen romance flick, "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging" - well worth a watch).

Dedicated for many reasons to the lovely Louise Annette Smart, who inspired this through our conversation on there not being enough handclaps in popular music these days, and who kickstarted my summer with the most excellent of weekend breaks in North Wales. This one's for you me lovely.

The Unisex Diner

The Rumble Strips - Girls and Boys in Love (i)
Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (a)





Put on your sunnies and head down the beach....it's gonna be a hot one

Orson IX

What happens when two mad men get together to make a soundscape of epic proportions? This happens....

My good friend Alan Black had an itching to create an ambient movie based tour de force of sound and emotion as his latest project, and I was fortunate enough to be asked to come along for the ride. After one month of Trans-Atlantic collaboration, here is the result. It's slightly warped.

Orson IX

tracks:-

various electronics and radio tuning
Boards of Canada: “In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country”
Vangelis, Blade Runner OST: “Deckard Meets Rachel”
Josh Wink: “Don’t Laugh”
Vangelis, Blade Runner OST: “One More Kiss”
Alberto Ginastera: “Malambo: Danza final”
John Williams, Star Wars OST: “Main Title Theme”
Skinny: “The Bus Song”
Underworld: “Kittens”
The Venus in Furs, Velvet Goldmine OST: “Baby’s on Fire”
Bernard Hermann, Psycho OST: “Murder”
Muse: “Blackout”
unknown: “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me”
DJ Shadow: “Transmission 3”
Goblin, Suspiria OST: “Sighs”
John Barry, Midnight Cowboy OST: “Midnight Cowboy”
The Rocky Horror Picture Show OST: “Super Heroes”
This Mortal Coil: “Song to the Siren”
Burial: “Prayer”
The Rocky Horror Picture Show OST: “Science Fiction / Double Feature (reprise)”
Vangelis, Blade Runner OST: “Wounded Animals”
Muhr: “Le Second”
Bloc Party: “Signs”
Antonio Pinto, Collateral OST: “Car Crash”
Mike Patton, A Perfect Twist OST: “A Perfect Twist”
The Beatles: “Come Together”
John Murphy, Sunshine OST: “A Star Within a Star”
Nine Inch Nails: “The Beginning of the End”
DFRNT: “Surface”
Burial: “Pirates”
Burial: “Untitled”
Pink Floyd: “Is There Anybody Out There?”
Burial: “Etched Headplate”
Boards of Canada: “In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country” [again]
The Shamen: “Re:Evolution”
Burial: “Untitled”
Ennio Morricone, Cuore di Mamma OST: ”Ninna Nanna Per Adulteri”
Vera Lynn, Dr. Strangelove, or... OST: “We’ll Meet Again”
Vaughan Williams, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World OST: “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis”
Edith Piaf, La Vie en Rose OST: “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien”
John Zorn: “Kiev 2” and “Kiev 3”
Radiohead: “My Iron Lung”
Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind, The Shining OST: “Theme from The Shining”
Vangelis, Blade Runner OST: “Tears in Rain”
Davies/Gordon/Tognetti, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World OST: ”Full Circle”
Szvorák Kati: “Szépen szól egy harang”
Brian Eno: “An Ending (Ascent)”
Richard Strauss, 2001: A Space Odyssey OST: “Also Sprach Zarathustra”
spoken excerpts:
Orson Welles: Citizen Kane
Orson Welles: It’s All True
Orson Welles (and “Hotel Martinet” excerpt): “War of the Worlds”
Kevin Eldon: “Black Books”
David Lynch: “Twin Peaks”
Ben Kingsley: Sexy Beast
Paul Dano and Daniel Day-Lewis: There Will Be Blood
HAL-9000: 2001: A Space Odyssey [multiple times]
Woody Allen: Manhattan
Brian Cox and Nicolas Cage: Adaptation
Helen Vendler: Shakespeare’s sonnets
Tim Curry: “Sweet Transvestite”
the quinine advertisement
Starcrash movie trailer
HAL-9000: 2010: Odyssey Two [multiple times]
Barry McGovern: Joe Versus the Volcano
Keir Dullea: 2010: Odyssey Two
Rutger Hauer: Blade Runner
Darth Vader: Return of the Jedi
George Innes: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Tom Hanks: Joe Versus the Volcano
Benicio Del Toro, Stephen Baldwin, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, and Gabriel Byrne: The Usual Suspects


Please do visit Alan's website to download here

Alan Black feat. Colatron - Orson IX

and be sure to visit the rest of his pages to expand your mind with his completely unique style of mind-melting mash, and also his incredible work on movie scripts.

Turn out the lights, and enjoy...

Ministry of Mashed Sound

Well, it seems like an age since I posted anything, and to be honest, I've been focusing on other things aside from mashing, but do not fear - I shall return to business shortly, bigger and better than ever with a couple of projects I've been working on/shall be beginning soon.

In the meantime, I contributed a track to the forthcoming album from Envision at the Ministry of Mashed Sound. It's not due for release for a few months on here yet, but you'll be able to hear it as a part of Envision's cracking new album, of which you can hear a brief preview of here

Ministry of Mashed Sound

Featuring such fellow luminaries as The Reborn Identity, Mash2Mix, MadMixMustang, G3RSt, mARKYBOY, and Envision himself, this promises to be the hottest compilation of the month if not the first half of the year. Be sure to grab it as soon as it comes out.

Epic Thinking

Hot pop princess gets an Epic makeover. 'Nuff said


Epic Thinking

Katy Perry - Thinking of You (i)
Faith No More - Epic (a)


Right-click save:
LINK UNAVAILABLE

I'd kiss that girl, and I'd like it....

The Dancing Girls

After coming down to Earth, following the release of Welcome To My World (see below - described by DJ Brother Darkness as "the full-length mix of the year....so far" - if you don't own a copy yet, shame on you!), I needed to make something unashamedly pop to get the ambient techincal twiddlings out of my head.

What better place to start with than the most obvious coupling you'll probably hear all year. Yep - I sold out and made a Lady Gaga mash....sorry.

The Dancing Girls

Calvin Harris - The Girls (i)
Lady Gaga - Just Dance (a)


Right-click save
The Dancing Girls

Back to ambient normality next week!

Welcome To My World

A beginning is a very delicate time.

Raise a hand into the empty air:
Hold on to the emptiness in your palm.

Then: from the depths of space, errant transmissions.
Some add up to something of philosophy.
Others are fragments through the static:
Some leading us to greater insights,
Some leading us into the blackest of dead ends.

Micro and macro, the atom and the universe.
And the human trapped in-between:
Our religions, our cultures, our politics, our endeavors.

The blood pulsing in our veins,
The thoughts large and small puzzling our minds.

Mind, heart, and spirit are in these songs, this mix.
The monumental within the mundane is here.
The crisis within existence is here.
The gamut is run.

Lower your hand from the sky:
Place it over your eyes, your throat, your heart. It’s beginning.

Alan Black, Feb 2009
1086 Productions



Tracklistings:-

Welcome to My World
Toto - Prologue (from the Dune OST)
Vangelis - Prologue and Main Titles (from the Bladerunner OST)
The voice of Vrillon
The Beatles - A Day In the Life
Doris Stokes - Welcome to My World
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (Live at L'Olympia)

Rapture
Burial - Endorphin
Imogen Heap - Hallelujah
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (live at Sin-é)
Burial - Untitled (both tracks from Burial, and opening track from Untrue)
Jeff Buckley - vocal sample
Skream - Midnight Request Line

Where Is Diana's Home
Bloc Party - Where Is Home (Burial Remix)
Sabres Of Paradise - Haunted Dancefloor
Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana
Princess Diana - Martin Bashir interview

I Dreamt Perfect Union
Vangelis - I Dreamt Music (from the Bladerunner OST)
Barack Obama speech - March 18 2008, Philadelphia
The Orb - Toxygene (live)
George W. Bush - vocal samples

Ball Of Colour
Skream - Colourful
The Temptations - Ball of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)
George W. Bush - vocal samples

Heliosong
UNKLE - Breather
Aphex Twin - Heliosphan
Elton John - Your Song

Oxygen Is In the Sky
Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene IV
Ian Van Dahl - Castles In The Sky
Sir David Frost interviews Jean-Michel Jarre (16th Nov 07)
Gardener Chamber Orchestra - Air On the G String

A Wishful Interlude
Burial - Untitled
Burial - Gutted
Barack Obama - vocal sample
Nikolaj Bloch & Sally Herbert (Thomas Newman) - Any Other Name
Beyonce - Wishing On A Star

Blood In The End
John Carpenter - Prologue narrated by John Houseman (from The Fog OST)
Tycho - In The End
Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love

Togetherness
Mel Gibson - vocal sample
Amon Tobin - Easy Muffin
Craig Armstrong - Weather Storm
The Beatles - Come Together

Things Are Changing
The voice of Korton
20th Century Fox presents “Star Wars” (promo)
Four Tet - First Thing
Boards of Canada - Constants Are Changing

The War of Staunton
Lemon Jelly - The Staunton Lick
Colonel Bagshot - Six Day War
William Shakespeare - MacBeth (Act 5 Scene V)

Window On My World
M93 - You Appearing
Morcheeba - World Looking In
UNKLE - Back and Forth

Deserted
Pink Floyd - Marooned
Jeff Buckley – That’s All I Ask

Rabbit Food
Howard Beale sample from 'Network'
UNKLE - Rabbit In Your Headlights (Massive Attack Reverse Light Instrumental Remix)UNKLE - Rabbit In Your Headlights
Talk Talk - New Grass
UNKLE - Glow

A Beautiful Ending
Brian Eno - An Ending (Ascent)
Burial - Forgive
Christina Aguilera - Beautiful

+ various samples/snippets of dialogue


Available for download in two versions

Single 62min MP3, with full artwork

Right-click save:
Mix Format

Backup Mediafire link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?3t2mjzmhmzz

Full mix split in to 16 tracks, with full artwork

Right-click save:
Tracks Format

Backup Mediafire link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zikmzjwiddw


With thanks to Alan, Gav and Tom at 1086 Productions for the guidance, and to Flying White Dots for the inspiration, and to Scott for the preview.

Welcome to My World

Landing soon....

"Did you think you heard real sounds.....?"

Hear the new mix album played exclusively on Ramdom Thoughts podcast this coming weekend (7th-8th March)

Ramdom Thoughts

Download to follow on these pages shortly, welcome...

WonderLight

You don't even want to know the amount of work that went in to this one.....

WonderLight

Oasis - Wonderwall (i)
Jennifer Hudson - Spotlight (a)

Right-click save:
WonderLight


Dedicated as in most cases, to Kayleigh....

Something special is coming...

A glimpse of the future....

Taken from my forthcoming mix album "Welcome To My World"

Where Is Diana's Home



Bloc Party - Where Is Home (Burial Remix)
Sabres of Paradise - Haunted Dancefloor
Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana
Princess Diana - Martin Bashir interview


Video by The Reborn Identity

Sycamore Cowboys

Sorry folks - it's been a while since I graced these pages. However, be assured I have not given up the art of mash. Instead, I have been locked away in the Mash-cave working on a new album, which is now complete. More details will follow, but I can tell you its a space-rock ambient extravaganza. 15 new tracks, 1 you already know. It'll introduce you to my world.

As a result, there are one or two bits and pieces left over on my desktop which for space and time constraints couldn't make the final cut. This is one such track.

Part inspired by the Who Boys now classic and genius Strange Pyramid (fusing of all things, Radiohead with Billie Holiday), and heavily inspired by our collection of all things David Lynch last year, the Mashed In Plastic album (if you don't own a copy, shame on you! Over 20,000 downloads and counting) - here's my ode to all things jazzy trip-hop.

Oxymoronic legendary unknown jazz singer (Little) Jimmy Scott, appeared in the finale of Twin Peaks, singing this haunting ballad to the woods, bedecked in suit, looking a million dollars in the Lodge, and possibly out-cooling the Man From Another Place at the same time. It is one of THE standout moments in the whole of the show, and had many a Twin Peaks fan scrambling to get a hold of a copy of the soundtrack. In fact Jimmy is widely cited by his peers as being THE soul singer (Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, Quincy Jones....he even made Madonna cry!) of all time, and yet so few people know about him. For more info visit his site and educate yourselves as to what the human voice can achieve

http://www.jimmyscottofficialwebsite.org/

Pair him with the equally moody trip-hop stylings of pioneers Portishead, and you have a gloomy, nay threatening even, song to go to bed on.



Sycamore Cowboys

Portishead - Cowboys (i)
Jimmy Scott - Sycamore Trees (a)




Thanks to Gav for the Jimmy Scott piccie too.

As I say, much more to come the next couple of weeks.

But until then, I'll see you in the branches that blow....